Into the Dead Space
by JFCG
Summary: Here's a short piece I wrote. The story of the USS Valor, told from the perspective of a Marine.


Corporal Kenner rose from his seat and straightened his uniform out. The Commander had announced over the PA to suit up and get ready.

Get ready for what? Kenner thought to himself.

Nevertheless, he had to follow orders. He went over to his locker and put his suit on. It was the MCU-27, commonly known as the Military suit. He grabbed his helmet and ran off to the armory to grab his equipment.

Kenner ran over to Dietrich, the armorer, and picked up his handgun, four clips and his trusty Pulse Rifle and several dozen bursts of ammunition. He was also issued a PFM-100 Flamethrower, though what that was for Kenner couldn't even guess.

He met up with the rest of his squad at the docking area. Sergeant Olson briefed the team. He said that they had encountered an escape pod from the Ishimura, the vessel which they had been told about earlier. He also said that the pod was transmitting no signals and didn't seem to have any signs of life. The crew was already getting ready to take the pod in for the Marines to investigate.

Kenner put his helmet on and locked the seal. The Marines were told to expect something hostile, but they weren't told anything else.

He heard a blaring klaxon and saw the lifter arm carrying the pod into the bay. Sergeant Olson barked out orders and the Marines surrounded the pod and braced themselves. It stank of the stench of industrial metal and the smell of an old ship, but there was something else. Kenner could vaguely smell..... rot.

Kenner looked to his side and saw two engineers holding scanners and plasma cutters. They were busy taking readings.

One engineer went over to the pod's hatch and tried opening it, to no avail. He motioned with his hand and was handed a line gun, which he used to loosen the hatch, which slowly hissed open.

Private Farley went near the pod and shined his flashlight into it. There were no signs of anything inside. When he lifted his flashlight to the pod's ceiling, all hell broke loose.

Someone, or something, decapitated Farley before he could react. The rest of the squad started firing wildly into the pod. Sergeant Olson shouted " Cease fire!" and the Marines searched around for whatever killed Farley.

Kenner looked to his side again and saw the engineers again, this time with his torso impaled by a claw. He screamed at his comrades to alert them, when the creature bolted off and grabbed onto Sergeant Olson's neck. The Marines fired at the creature's head and torso, desperate for a quick kill to save the Sergeant, to no avail.

The creature disappeared into a vent, leaving Sergeant Olson on the floor, bleeding profusely. One of the Marines from Kenner's squad bent over the Sergeant while the others ran off in search of the creature.

In the Valor's cockpit, Chief Petty Officer Stewart was watching the whole scene unfold through the ship's monitors. He couldn't believe what was happening.

Stewart heard something behind him. He shouted to his co-pilot but received no response. In fear, he drew his handgun and looked behind him. All he could see were the lights of the computer monitors. He turned back to his seat when the creature he saw from the cameras leapt from the vent above him. It grabbed Stewart and disemboweled him, leaving the ship helpless without pilots.

Kenner heard another klaxon, this time warning of the ship's imminent collision with the Ishimura. In front of him, one of the engineers shouted at all of them to brace themselves. Kenner threw himself to the ground and covered his head. Then..... explosions and after that, silence.

Kenner stood up, dazed and unable to see due to the darkness. He saw two of his squad members impaled on a piece of metal ripped from the hull. The engineer whispered to him to evacuate the ship. Kenner grabbed his pulse rifle and got out of the Valor.

He could see more of the creatures dismembering his fellow Marines. Kenner shot at one, managing to remove both its legs and one arm, killing it.

Kenner turned around and saw a horrific bat-like abomination rushing toward him. It grabbed onto Kenner and plunged its proboscis deep into his helmet and into his head, dropping him to the floor.

The bat creature left the body it had just infected on the floor to look for more victims. The body slowly started changing, Kenner's armor ripping open to reveal mutated flesh and claws. It stood up, thirsty for blood.

It immediately went over to the injured engineer.


End file.
